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The Lagos State University of Education (LASUED), Ijanikin recently celebrated the 2023 edition of the Annual World Teachers’ Day with the theme “The Teachers we need for the education we want”.
In her address, the Vice Chancellor of LAUSED, Prof. Bidemi Bilkis Lafiaji-Okuneye said that the significant impact of teachers on the society underscored the need to celebrate them as unsung heroes who would guide and inspire learners, not only on 5th of October, 2023 but carry forward the spirit, ensuring every day as a day of gratitude, of learning and of growth.
The VC emphasized that the importance of teachers to individuals, groups and society could not be questioned, especially in a country like Nigeria where the youth population is rapidly growing, hence, the significant of teachers becomes even more evident.
“Being a teacher provides the unique opportunity to make a transformative and lasting impact on the lives of others, which contributes to shaping sustainable future and offering personal fulfillment as teachers play pivotal role in imparting knowledge, shaping the minds of students, and preparing them for the future. Teachers inspired hope, ignited imagination, and instilled love for learning,” she stated.
Prof. Lafiaji-Okuneye also described teachers as the backbone of any education system and a dominant paradigm in nation building as teaching serves as the gauge by which development of a nation is measured.
She noted that the world, over wear the toga of nation builders as doctors, lawyers, engineers and other professionals holds their statures to the clemency of teachers.
“Teachers were the pillars upon which all aspirations are converted into realities. A catalyst in the execution of national of national development programmes including Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), teachers purposively build societies based on the knowledge, values, and ethics they impart”
Just as the world faces an unprecedented global teacher shortage, the VC, highlighted some primary causes of teachers shortage in Nigeria which included low salaries, lack of incentives and benefits, limited opportunities for career growth, overcrowded classrooms, inadequate teaching materials, resources, infrastructure and facilities, brain drain, persistent failure to develop human capital to produce a competent workforce among many other factors.
She then called for efforts to be put together to effectively discuss the decline in number of teachers, advocated for a dignified and valued teaching profession, analyses teachers’ challenges and showcase inspiring practices to attract, retain and motivate teachers and educators.
Lafiaji-Okuneye also said that the ways in which education system, societies, communities and families recognized, appreciated and actively supported teachers be properly evaluated and policymakers be compelled to allocate more resources to education as well as ensure adequate funding for teachers’ salaries and professional development that by doing these, collectively would help to create a sustainable education that empowers youth and drives national development.
“The longer we delay this crisis in addressing these crisis, the more we jeopardize the development of our nation,” she concluded.
